How to Manage Anxiety When the World Feels Unsafe | Dr. Katharine Wilkinson

How to Manage Anxiety When the World Feels Unsafe | Dr. Katharine Wilkinson

Climate anxiety is no longer a niche concern or a passing thought in the background of daily life. For many people, eco anxiety, climate change anxiety, anxiety about climate change, and climate grief show up in very real ways: trouble sleeping, a constant sense of dread, difficulty planning for the future, and the quiet but persistent feeling that the world is becoming harder to trust than it used to.

That is exactly why I wanted to have this conversation.

In this episode of Love, Happiness and Success, I’m joined by Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson for a grounded, compassionate conversation about what it means to live in a changing world without handing your whole nervous system over to fear. We talk about the emotional reality of climate change, the difference between healthy fear and overwhelming anxiety, and how to move from helplessness into agency in ways that feel meaningful, relational, and sustainable.

This isn’t just a private struggle happening in your head. A large global survey of 10,000 young people found that 84% were at least moderately worried about climate change, and more than 45% said those feelings negatively affected their daily life and functioning. Meanwhile, the APA has highlighted the growing need to help young people move from climate anxiety into action, and the Yale Climate Opinion Maps continue to show that worry, perceived harm, and support for climate action are widespread, though they vary by region (Hickman et al., 2021; APA, 2025; Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2025).

Climate Anxiety Is Not “All in Your Head”

One of the most important ideas in this conversation is that climate anxiety is not necessarily a sign that something is wrong with you. In many cases, it is a deeply human response to a world that really is changing.

That distinction matters.

As a psychologist, I think carefully about the difference between anxiety as a clinical issue and fear that makes sense in context. When your mind starts predicting danger that is wildly out of proportion to reality, that can be part of an anxiety disorder. Yet when you are responding to wildfire smoke, extreme heat, drought, flooding, or environmental instability, your feelings may be telling you something important.

Researchers have made a similar distinction. In his analysis of eco anxiety and climate anxiety, Panu Pihkala notes that uncertainty, unpredictability, and lack of control are central drivers, and that many forms of eco-anxiety are non-clinical even though they can still be painful and disruptive (Pihkala, 2020).

Eco Anxiety, Climate Grief, and the Weight of Uncertainty

For many people, eco anxiety does not always look like panic. Sometimes it sounds like doomscrolling. Sometimes it looks like bracing. Sometimes it comes through as irritability, shutdown, exhaustion, or the sense that you can’t quite settle.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada offers a helpful overview here: eco anxiety is not currently considered a diagnosable mental illness, but it can include obsessive thoughts about the climate, existential dread, guilt, anger, grief, trouble sleeping, and difficulty concentrating (Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2024).

That’s one reason climate grief feels so important to name. Climate grief is not only about what might happen next. It is also about what is already changing now: beloved places, familiar weather patterns, local economies, a sense of predictability, and the emotional experience of watching something you love become more fragile. In the episode, Dr. Katharine talks about grief as something that needs room to move. When grief gets stuck, it can pull people into numbness or despair. When it has space, it can open into love, gratitude, and renewed commitment.

If this part of the conversation feels especially close to home, you might also find support in What to Do When You Feel Overwhelmed and How to Feel Safe in a Scary World, both of which speak to the emotional experience of carrying too much for too long.

Anxiety About Climate Change Can Turn Into Helplessness

A lot of people living with anxiety about climate change run into the same painful question: What am I actually supposed to do?

That question can come with guilt. It can also come with avoidance, shame, or a feeling that whatever you do will be too small to matter.

One of the strongest parts of this conversation is Dr. Katharine’s invitation to think about action differently. Rather than reducing climate action to a short list of consumer choices, she invites people to think about contribution through the lens of their own gifts, values, relationships, and sphere of influence. That shift matters, because it moves the conversation out of perfectionism and into purpose.

Interestingly, research suggests this relationship between distress and action is more complex than many people assume. A 32-country study found that climate anxiety was associated with greater exposure to climate information and lower mental wellbeing, but it was also related to pro-environmental behavior and activism (Ogunbode et al., 2022). In other words, distress can correlate with struggle, but it can also be part of what moves people toward engagement.

That’s where practical coping tools can help. If your body is activated and your thoughts are racing, How to Stop Your Anxiety Right Now offers immediate grounding ideas. If your mind gets stuck in repetitive fear loops, How to Stop Worrying: Avoid the Mind Trap and How to Stop Worrying, and Start Living Fearlessly may give you more structure and relief.

Climate Change Anxiety in Young People

I also wanted to talk with Dr. Katharine about young people, because climate change anxiety lands differently when you are still trying to imagine your future.

That concern is well founded. In the same global Lancet survey, 75% of young people said they think the future is frightening, and 83% said they think people have failed to take care of the planet. Many also reported feeling betrayed by government responses (Hickman et al., 2021). The Mental Health Commission of Canada likewise notes that youth are among the groups most at risk for eco-anxiety, partly because they expect to face more of the long-term consequences of climate change (Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2024).

The APA’s recent reporting on youth climate anxiety points toward something hopeful here: young people do better when adults help them build knowledge, connection, action, and realistic hope rather than asking them to either numb out or carry everything alone (APA, 2025).

That frame is one of the reasons I loved Dr. Katharine’s “wayfinding” language. When old maps stop working, the task is no longer finding one perfect answer. The task becomes building the inner capacities to look inward with care, outward with curiosity, and forward with courage.